Portmanteau of Russian 'sam' (self) and 'izdatel'stvo' (publisher); literally self-published. Samizdat was the term given to clandestine reproduction and distribution of government-suppressed literature in Soviet countries. The forbidden texts were copied a few at a time, typewritten or written by hand and often using carbon paper. These reproductions were then distributed among friends or sold, and the recipients of the texts would often go on to make more copies, and so on.

Portmanteau of Russian 'sam' (self) and 'izdatel'stvo' (publisher); literally self-published. Samizdat was the term given to clandestine reproduction and distribution of government-suppressed literature in Soviet countries. The forbidden texts were copied a few at a time, typewritten or written by hand and often using carbon paper. These reproductions were then distributed among friends or sold, and the recipients of the texts would often go on to make more copies, and so on.